EIA revises global liquid fuels demand growth down because of the coronavirus (2/12/2020)

In the February 2020 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that global liquid fuels demand will average 101.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2020, 1.0 million b/d more than the 2019 average. This latest estimate of 2020 global liquid fuels demand is 378,000 b/d less than was forecast in the January 2020 STEO (Figure 1). The difference between the forecasts is driven by a combination of lower-than-expected heating fuel consumption caused by the Northern Hemisphere’s warmer-than-expected winter, an expected slowing of economic growth in general, and the particular economic effects of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. ... More »